>> of course. that's what's making news in america this morning. stay with us for "good morning america." back out to bourbon street on this mardi gras morning. look at my people go. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> we are following several big stories this morning including a death investigations stemming from a shooting and fire in maryland. >> a security council will hold an emergency meeting this morning after north korea conducted its third nuclear test. >> plenty of eyes will be on capitol hill as president obama tries to set new standards in his state of the union address tonight. good morning, washington. it's tuesday, february 12. i am scott thuman. >> i am cynne simpson. rise and shine. we will get to meteorologist jacqui jeras for the weather. >> a pretty good looking day

overall. we were able to break out some sunshine yesterday in the western parts but not so much to the east. we are stuck in between the clouds at this hour. we will see more sunshine than anything else today. partly cloudy and through the afternoon. the 49 degrees is where we are in washington, 47 adults, 50 in culpeper. the cloudiness from overnight along with the breeze kept temperatures pretty comfortable. we will get to the low 50's this afternoon. tomorrow we have rain and a wintry mix and even snow is specially off to the west. details in a few minutes. first, to a check on traffic and weather jamee. >> it's pretty quiet. there's overnight construction. looks like everything is wrapping up on schedule. northbound 95, almost done. and the john hanson highway, the

beltway as well. landover past 202, the left lane was blocked but it did not cause much of a backup. looks good and the woodrow wilson bridge. no problem at the american legion bridge. back to you. >> thank you. police are trying to figure out what led to a depth investigation in college park, maryland at 36th avenue. emergency crews responded to a shooting and a fire. countrypeople were shocked. we don't know what led to the shooting. -- three people were shot. >> the investigation continues into how a man was hit and killed by car just before 10:30 monday night on georgia avenue in aspen hill. police of not release any details in the case. >> we are following a big story

from overseas this morning. north korea has defied the orders of the united nations and conducted its third nuclear test. the north says it successfully detonated a miniaturized nuclear device at a northeastern test site. the white house calls it a highly provocative act that threatens u.s. security and international peace. it has prompted the u.n. security council to hold an emergency meeting later this morning. brianne carter will have much more on this developing story coming up in our 5:00 hour as well. >> tonight the focus will be on president obama as he delivers his state of the union. >> he is expected to press congress to improve more -- approve more tax increases and spending cuts. >> president obama's state of the union speech tonight will focus primarily on jobs and the economy. it is expected to be different than his inaugural address last month. >> the economy will be central to the speech and how we grow the economy so everybody can

participate and get a fair shot. >> president a look at clean energy education, and infrastructure. he warns against the automatic spending cuts. adding additional spending would require congressional approval putting mr. obama on a collision course with house republicans. >> it's time for washington to get back to the basics. we cannot continue to spend money we don't have. >> mr. obama will collaborate on some of the big themes from his inaugural speech such as immigration, climate change, and gun violence. tomorrow he goes to north carolina for a speech to workers at an auto plant. the town has a small house where mr. obama visited before. >> they never tell us when he's coming. >> democrats are placing a big

emphasis on gun-control tonight. gabby giffords will be in the house chamber as well as the parents of a slain chicago teenager who performed and mr. obama's inauguration. they will be sitting with the first lady. >> you can watch the state of the union tonight at 9:00 on abc 7. coming up in our 6:00 hour, much more perspective on the president's speech. senate democrats plan to force a vote today on former nebraska senator chuck hagel's nomination to be defense secretary. the armed services committee of the senate is expected to vote on his nomination during a meeting this afternoon. some of his fellow republicans say that he has not answered questions about it is personal finances. the full senate could vote on the nomination tomorrow or thursday. >> in business news, hostess is giving the ok to auction off its grants. >> president obama's choice for treasury secretary is expected to face tough questions this week. linda bell joins us from

bloomberg headquarters in new york. >> good to see you. the investors are interested in the testimony of jack lew before the senate finance committee. he will face questions about his work at citigroup. he did serve as chief operating officer during the financial crisis. he will be questioned about his investment in a fund in the cayman islands which was located in the building known for picking home for offshore tax havens. it will be interesting to hear what he has to say about that and other economic issues including the u.s.-backed. -- the u.s. sdebt. host this got the green light to auction off its brands including wonder ratan drakes. the end may be approaching. -- wonder bread and cadrake

's. there will have to provide medical benefits for retirees through may. pizza lovers, are you ready for a pizza hut curfew? all that coming up in the next hour. linda bell reporting for abc 7 news. >> did she say pizza perfume? >> yes. >> i am thinking pepperoni and mushrooms. thank you, linda. it's 47 degrees on this tuesday morning. >> mori action to the pope's

>> welcome back. a beautiful clear morning in the nation's capital. >> looks nice. >> i saw the stars as i was driving to work this morning. always nice to have a clear start. >> absolutely. yesterday was gloomy. today, fantastic. i will enjoy this. puts me in a better mood. sunshine and blue skies and it is all good. while this morning at 49 degrees right now. we have a wind chill factor, and

restart. 44 degrees is the wind chill. west northwest wind at 14 miles an hour. it feels like 33 in winchester, 36 in martinsburg, 34 in hagerstown. it feels like 42 at dulles right now. there will be more sunshine than anything else about the day with a few clouds. 42 degrees at 9:00, 48 and noon 50 at 5:00. warmer than average today. a mass expected tomorrow afternoon and evening. -- a mess. now, jamee. >> hitting the roads, to get going. 395, from the beltway to the 14th street bridge, lanes are open. overnight construction was southbound, but that has been wrapped up. it's quiet on northbound 95 and the same story in stafford. travel lanes open.

270 good between frederick and the capital beltway. in howard county, they closed the ramp from westbound 32 to go on to northbound 29 due to an overturned delivery truck. >> we are looking at 47 degrees. >> amanda knox giving her first television interview since being cleared of killing her roommates in 2011.

>> the senate armed services committee will hold a hearing today on the impact of sequestration. hundreds of government employees planned rally at the capitol to protest the possible cuts. federal workers and government contractors are preparing for the worst. without a deal, federal spending on defense and domestic programs must be cut by $984 billion over nine years. experts warn the cuts would have a major impact on the d.c. region. the gun-control debate returns to capitol hill today. a panel will hear from prosecutors, legal experts, and people who survived and lost family members to gun violence. senate judiciary committee urged from people last month on both sides. >> catholics in the d.c. area and around the world are

looking ahead after pope benedict xvi announced he is resigning at the end of the month. the 85-year-old said that he's stepping aside because he no longer has the strength to lead the world's largest christian church. while many local catholics are sad to see him resign, they also wonder about the church's future. >> i think if the church keeps going the way it is and we have another pope that is too acerbated, we will continue to lose american catholics especially young people. the cardinals will gather in rome next month to select a new popes. stay with abc 7 news for complete coverage of historic change in the catholic church and for instant updates, go-to guy wjla.com along with our facebook and twitter pages. -- go to wjla.com. there's been a tribute to a slain former navy seal chris

kyle. >> he is everywhere. he is the fabric of the freedoms that blessed the people of this great nation. >> 7000 people gathered monday at cowboys stadium in texas for memorial service. the world renown sniper was killed at a texas shooting range allegedly by a young veteran he was trying to help. he will be buried in austin today after a 200 mile funeral procession from dallas. >> chicago police have arrested two members in the murder of 15--year-olds hadiya pendleton. 18-year-old michael ward and 20-year-old kenneth williams missed a character friends for members of a rival gang and shot them last month. this was days after the girl performed in the inaugural parade in d.c. parents will join first lady michelle obama as guests for state of the union address tonight. >> diane sawyer has landed the first television interview with amanda knox. she's the "american bandstand"

four years in a -- she is the american who spent four years in an italian prison for killing her roommate. d.c. police have identified the man killed in the southeast area of the city over the weekend. 19-year-old james edward dean was shot on sunday. they're looking into what led to the murder. nor arrests have been made. scary moments for passengers on a metrobus in northwest washington after a tree came crashing down on the roof. look at the video. the bus was traveling south on 16th street near spring road monday evening when a 54 tree fell on the back of the bus. there were 30 passengers on board. no one was injured. >> people from all over maryland plan to gather to support

legislation aimed at appealing a controversial law. will be a tractorcade. the protesters want lawmakers to repeal bill which sets limits on where residential septic systems can be installed. >> events are planned for today to celebrate president abraham lincoln's 201st birthday. everything will be held in downtown washington at fort stewart at 8:45 this morning and another ceremony at noon at the lincoln memorial. several officials will be there including the u.s. transportation secretary ray lahood. >> today's fat tuesday, the last day to eat drink, and be married before lent tomorrow. >> there will be several celebrations in the d.c. area. the washington national cathedral will hold its annual mardi gras pancake race this afternoon. always a good time. students will racvece in front of

the cathedral while flipping pancakes. >> if you are looking for something more festive than that take a look at arlington. this is the annual clarendon mardi gras parade. there's a block party at 5:00 p.m. at the by neayou bakery. several streets will be closed. we have a complete list at wjla.com. >> the cleanup continues from the blizzard in the northeast. massachusetts governor deval patrick had a chance to put that some of the areas hardest-hit. parts of new england were blanketed with nearly 3 feet of snow. he's asking residents to be patient as the crews worked around the clock to remove snow and restore power. the storm is blamed for 15 deaths in the u.s. and canada. >> amtrak says its back on a normal schedule this morning. crews worked around the clock to

clear the tracks from snow and downed trees. it will resume normal operations starting today including between new york and boston. it includes the springfield of shuttle service and others. >> time to look at the weather. quite a difference a day makes. i walked out of the house this morning and it was beautiful. >> mild temperatures, jacqui. >> not much to complain about. look at the weatherbug network. i-44 in bethesda, 45 degrees in germantown, 42 in leesburg, 45 in gaithersburg. warrenton at 46 degrees. we have a cool breeze, so it feels 5 degrees colder than that. we have an upper level pressure system to our north. we have a frontal system which has passed to our south and east. low pressure developing along the system. we are in between two other

influences today. overall, we will never more sunshine than anything. things will get interesting by tomorrow afternoon. a really good handle on a scooter to our south. it should start out with nice conditions throughout the day. high temperatures in the low 50's. clouds will move in late tonight and early tomorrow morning. 7:00 with temperatures in the 30's. then we expect the moisture to come in from the south by mid afternoon. it will start as rain across the metro area. higher elevations will see some snowfall. all of that all changed to some snow and minor accumulations can be expected. it will be done with by thursday morning after a few snow flurries. then we will have sunshine and 50 degrees on friday. maybe a few snow flurries on saturday early. otherwise agrees the weekend and getting much colder. things don't look good by the commute home tomorrow. jamee?

>> assigned to get going now. it's quiet. no major problems around the region. good morning, washington. or 14th street bridge, nothing to tell you about. one minor incidents in maryland waiting for tow truck on 32 westbound, the ramp that would merge onto northbound 29. just waiting for tow truck. around the beltway, travel lanes are open. looking good in maryland and virginia and 270 is off to a quiet start as well. back to you. >> thank you. 46 degrees, 4:00 to 53 on this tuesday. -- 4:53. >> the top cities for cheaters, or the district ranks. >> still hoping to get a ticket to beyonce's summer concert in d.c., we have

>> beyonce performing the second show of the verizon center due to overwhelming demand. monday, july 29. a second show will take place the following evening on the 30. presale for the second concert begins tomorrow per e-tickets go to sale -- and sell to the general public on friday it 10:00 a.m. washington d.c. is the top city

for cheaters according to a new study. >> this is from an extramarital dating web site. the district had more signups per capita in 2012 than any other u.s. city, coming in second austin, texas. richmond virginia, in sixth place. >> looking at 46 degrees outside. >> still ahead, a new look for

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